Lake Blurble
by crazygirlne
Summary: Ficlet in which Rose and the Doctor go for a swim with something like Gillyweed.


I decided I wanted all my writing in one place, so I'm copying over the few ficlets I'd not yet posted here.

Tumblr prompt from scullywolf: ten/rose, exhalation, lake, map

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"It's Gillyweed, Rose!" exclaimed the Doctor happily. "Close enough, anyway, since it's the plant the inspired it. Nearly the same. We get an hour to explore the lake. There's so much to see at the bottom of Lake Gimbobble, though, an hour might not be enough."

He frowned slightly at the radish-like plants in his hand.

"Can't we just… explore for an hour and then get some more or something?" asked Rose.

"Nope," said the Doctor. "One time is harmless, but twice in a day and you're risking permanent gills. Not that gills are a bad thing, mind you, but I rather think Jackie would be a mite upset with me if I brought you back with a set of them."

He rubbed the back of his neck before smiling at her and handing her one of the plants.

"And what did you say this was really called again?" Rose inquired.

"Gillanious Root," he answered as he moved to put his in his mouth.

"Wait, Doctor," said Rose. "What about our clothes? Aren't we gonna get a bit wet?"

"No," he answered. "Well, yes, sort of. We'll get wet, but the plant makes it so we won't feel wet, and then I'll just dry us off with the sonic when it wears off. Oh! I almost forgot," he said, using his free hand to reach inside a suit pocket, producing a laminated map. "The tourist industry picks up here in a few centuries and they start providing waterproof maps, so I acquired one last time I visited. Nothing significant has changed between now and then, so it should be quite helpful," he finished, beaming at Rose before eating the plant in one bite and jumping quickly into the water.

"Here goes, then," said Rose as she followed suit, making a slight face at the bitter taste of the root before she went into the lake, taking one last deep breath and moving into the water.

When she was completely submerged, she looked around to see the Doctor smiling at her again, and she smiled in response, fighting the urge to try to hold her breath under water. She looked at her slightly webbed hands and decided after a quick look at the Doctor's neck that she was glad she couldn't see her own gills.

The Doctor waved her over, pointing to the map and looking at her questioningly. Rose studied the map a moment before pointing to the first point of interest that looked exciting to her, an underwater cave with fluorescent plants.

"Blurble glurb glub," she told him, making a face when her words came out impossible to understand.

The Doctor only grinned even wider before giving her a thumbs up and swimming off.

After the cave, Rose and the Doctor had time to explore the starfish-like creatures at the lake's deepest point, and they were able to see the purple turtles native to this planet's saltwater-lake habitats before the Doctor signaled that their time was up. They swam through the turquoise water toward the surface, and Rose took a moment to marvel at what her life had become, at all the strange, wonderful traveling opportunities she had. She slowed some as she thought, and she was startled when the Doctor took her hand, looking at her with mild concern. She smiled at him and then noticed that their hands were quickly losing their webbing and the Doctor's gills were fading.

She glanced upward, seeing they were near the surface, and paddled quickly but remained calm, even when the surface was a bit further than she'd thought. The root wore off moments before they reached the open air, and Rose exhaled forcefully before filling her lungs again with the fresh planet air. She returned to breathing normally and looked at the Doctor, who was still holding her hand as they managed the short swim back to shore.

"That was brilliant," he said, brown eyes sparkling almost as much as the water.

"Yeah," said Rose, grinning back at him. "Get to see new things every day, traveling with you." A bit of tongue found its way between her teeth as they reached a shallow enough point to walk the rest of the way, clothes clinging uncomfortably as they moved out of the water. "Never woulda guessed you could go an hour without running that gob."


End file.
